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To play a piece of music you have never seen before takes a great deal of skill. So how is it, some musicians can do this easily such as session musicians and others such as non professional players of all standards find sight reading so difficult.

Don’t confuse learning to play a piece with sight-reading a piece

Many players confuse learning and playing a piece of music with sight-reading. You also have to learn how to sight read and this is completely different from learning to play a piece of music. To sight read successfully does not necessarily mean playing the piece note for note but to get through the piece from start to finish, in time, that means no slow downs or speed ups, perfect time.

Stopping and starting

As a professional musician you do not have the luxury of stopping and starting as many non professional players do, and there are a great deal of very good amateur players that keep stopping and starting because they don’t have the discipline of a good sight reader.

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Born in 1811, Liszt is notably the best sight-reader ever to play the piano.? The various accounts border on the incredible.? When Grieg heard Liszt sight-read his then manuscript Concerto, the pianist rejoiced.? “He was literally over the whole keyboard at once, without missing a note.? And how he did play, with grandeur, beauty, genius, and unique comprehension.? I think I laughed, laughed like an idiot.”? Ferdinand Hiller told Mendelssohn, “I was with Liszt at Erard’s and showed him the manuscript of my concerto.? He played it at sight – it is hardly legible – and with the utmost perfection.? It simply can’t be played any better than he played it.? It was miraculous.”

He could out-play Chopin on Chopin’s etudes.? Chopin wrote, “Liszt is at this moment playing my Etudes and he transports me out of my proper senses – I should like to steal from him his way of playing my Etudes.”? In his diary, Moscheles recorded that “Liszt sight read three of my studies.? He has completed metamorphosed these pieces; they have become more his studies than mine.”?

Piano Technique

Liszt entirely changed piano playing -?musically, mentally, and physically.? He was said to use the pedals as a sort of breathing apparatus.? According to Rudolf Breithaupt, “What chiefly distinguished Liszt’s technique was the absolute freedom of the arms.? The secret lay in the unconstrained swinging movements of the arm from the raised shoulder, the bringing out of the tone through the impact of the full elastic mass on the keys, a thorough command and use of the freely rolling arm, the springing hand, the springing finger.? He played by weight – by a swinging and a hurling of weight from a loosened shoulder that had nothing in common with what is known as finger manipulation.? It was by a direct transfer of strength from back and shoulders to fingers.”



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sheetmusicdirect asked:

A guide to reading music – learn the fundamentals of music notation, to improve your sight reading skills.

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pianomother asked:

From www.sightreadingtips.com How to improve piano sight reading, how to read music fast. If you are interested in improving your piano sight reading skill, please visit http and sign up for newsletter and learn more about our program. Sight Reading Music Sight Reading Piano Sight Reading

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expertvillage asked:

Learn these great tips on how to sight read on an accordion in the key of B in this free music video on playing the accordion in B major. Expert: Ryan Larson Bio: Ryan Larson is a young jazz composer whose teaching technique focuses on the basics of music theory in all twelve keys. Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso

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atree3 asked:

How to improve your sight reading of music.

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